Just One Smile
by Archilochus
Summary: Rhonda has a bad day and now Curly is trying to make her smile. For most people this wouldn't be so hard, except Rhonda is more stubborn than your average girl. On the other hand, Curly's crazier than your average guy. Who will win this battle of wills?


**Just One Smile**

Rhonda was having a bad day. A VERY bad day. She was having such a bad day that she couldn't remember the last time she had a day that was so bad. To start things off, she got a 'D' on her trigonometry test. She was already failing trig, and her parents had warned her that if she didn't improve her grade, she wouldn't be going to Aspen for spring break. Then, during lunch period, Eugene Horowitz spilled a whole carton of chocolate milk on her brand new caprini boots. They were custom-made, one of a kind. If that wasn't bad enough, when Eugene turned to go get some napkins, he slipped on some of the milk that had dribbled on the floor and accidentally dumped his entire lunch tray all over Rhonda's favorite cashmere sweater. And finally, just because the universe decided she hadn't suffered enough, her boyfriend of sixteen-months and two weeks, captain of the football team and Harvard-bound, broke up with her. That meant that now, in her darkest hour, she didn't have anyone to comfort her. In the span of roughly six hours, Rhonda's life had turned completely upside down.

"I am SO not in a good mood!" Rhonda yelled as she slammed her locker shut. Nearby students were quiet as they tiptoed past the angry female and tried to avoid further upsetting her. "Great! I forgot my chemistry book!" Rhonda violently spun her combination and ripped her locker back open. She began furiously digging around for her chemistry textbook.

"Boy, Rhonda is in no good mood there, ay Sid?" Stinky drawled. The two best friends were standing in front of their own lockers, which was a safe distance away from the ornery girl.

"You're telling me!" Sid exclaimed. He touched his cap nervously. Things had a way of turning horribly wrong when Rhonda was in a bad mood.

"Hey what's wrong with Rhonda?" Curly walked up to Stinky and Sid. He glanced between the two boys and Rhonda, a puzzled look on his face.

"She's freaking out man!" Sid seized Curly by the shirt. "She's FREAKIN' OUT!" Sid was suddenly plucked off of Curly. Stinky had him by the scruff of his neck. Gently, Stinky set him back down on the floor. He frowned at the shorter boy, who now seemed rather embarrassed.

"Why is she freaking out?" Curly asked.

"Cuz she almost done failed her math test, Eugene mussed up her fancy outfit, and then that really handsome fella dumped her not more 'n one hour ago." Curly shrugged.

"Maybe she just needs someone to cheer her up." Before Curly could take more than two steps however, Sid had him once again by the shirt.

"Are you crazy?!" he hissed. He sneaked a peak at Rhonda, to make sure that she hadn't heard them. "Remember what happened to the last guy who tried to cheer her up?" Curly stroked his chin as the memory came back.

* * *

"I hate them, I hate them, I hate them!" In the third grade, Mr. and Mrs. Wellington-Lloyd had told their daughter 'no' for the first time. Needless to say, the spoiled Rhonda did not take it very well. She had caused such a ruckus that the teacher had dismissed her from class ten minutes early. Later, when all of her classmates had gotten out, they gathered around and watched her slam her locker open and shut.

"Hey Rhonda, is there anything I can do to cheer you up?" Robert, the most popular and talkative blond-haired boy in the entire class, had walked up to her with a big smile on his face. Rhonda took one look at his giant grin and slammed her locker for the last time. Robert immediately realized he had made a big mistake.

"Uh Rhonda, what are you...hey...wh – OH MY GOD!" A horrible shriek filled the air and then was abruptly cut short.

"Boy howdy, did she tear out his vocal cords?!" Sid gripped his cap in fear and let out his own banshee scream.

"I know one thing," Stinky added. "That kid ain't gonna talk ever again."

* * *

Curly nodded. "Oh yeah, I forgot about that." He pried Sid's fists from his shirt and made his way over to Rhonda.

"What are you _doing?!"_ Sid seethed.

"It's destiny. Rhonda's my girl see, and now it's time for Curly to turn that frown," he pointed at Rhonda. "Upside down." Sid attempted to stop Curly one last time, but Stinky held him firm.

"It's all over Sid. A man in love is a man impaled." Sid stopped his struggling and glared up at Stinky, who just shrugged.

"What? I've been reading."

Back at her locker, Rhonda was becoming increasingly annoyed with her missing chemistry book. She began throwing things over her shoulder, not caring if she struck anyone, which unfortunately she did. She felt that since she had a rotten day, she was obliged to act however she wanted.

"Hey babycakes. Word on the street is you're back on the market." Rhonda shot a murderous look at her unwelcome guest.

"Get lost Curly."

"Temper, temper my dove." Curly glimpsed inside Rhonda's locker and quickly snatched something.

"What are you – hey, that's my book!" Curly had found Rhonda's lost chemistry textbook on his first try. This irritated Rhonda to no end. That imbecile! "Give me my book Curly!" she said in her deadliest voice. Curly simply side-stepped her and started flipping through the pages.

"Oh Rhonda, you aspire to become a fashion designer. Surely you needn't waste your precious time with ions and atoms and...such triviality."

"Give me my book!" Rhonda swiped a hand at Curly, but he was too fast for her.

"Uh-uh-uh. You've had a rough day dear one. Studying is not the antidote." Rhonda had had enough.

"FINE! Keep it! I don't care if I fail! I don't care about anything!" With that, Rhonda slammed her locker shut and stormed off. Curly slipped the textbook under his arm and jogged after her.

"Now don't you think you're overreacting a bit?"

"Ugh! Curly, why are you following me?!"

"Come on, you've had a bad day. You need someone to cheer you up."

"That's what I have Nadine for." Rhonda pointed to her best friend, who was standing off to the right.

"Hey Rhonda, how's it going?" Nadine asked. Without warning, Rhonda pushed Nadine so hard, she flew back into the lockers and crumpled to the floor. Curly eyed the unconscious girl for a moment and frowned.

"And they said I needed therapy," he muttered. "Ya see Rhonda doll; that's what Curly's talking about. You don't feel any better now. Why, you're still steaming from the ears."

"What do you want me to do Curly?! Take off my shirt and run screaming through the halls!"

A ghost of a smile flickered on Curly's lips. "That would be nice, but no." Enraged, Rhonda seized the collar of Curly's own shirt (like Sid had earlier) and yanked him forward so that they were merely inches apart.

"Then _what _do you want?!" Curly grinned.

"I just want you to smile." Rhonda pushed Curly away with disgust and stormed off. "Just one smile," Curly called out.

"No! And stop bothering me or I'll call the cops!"

"Aww come on Rhonda, just a little one?"

"Good-_bye_ Curly!"

"Just wait! I'll get you to smile eventually. By the end of today, you'll be ear-to-ear, no sweat!" Curly waited a few seconds to see if Rhonda would respond, but she didn't. He cupped his hands around his mouth. "And call me Thad! Or Thaddy!" Curly paused to consider other possibilities. "Or Thaddy Daddy," he mumbled with a shrug.

* * *

Rhonda plowed through the double doored exit of Hillwood High, sending an unsuspecting Eugene flying halfway across campus.

"I'm okay," the redhead moaned.

But Rhonda hadn't even noticed him. She was still fuming over the current state of her life. And her encounter with Curly certainly didn't help. Curly. The little scamp had definitely gotten a lot taller, and more handsome since the fourth grade. Part of this had to do with the fact that he had ditched the glasses and started wearing contacts. He had pretty eyes, no doubt, but to Rhonda, he was just as cocky and annoying now as he was back then. How dare he think he can just waltz in and win her over whenever he felt like.

Up ahead, Rhonda saw that her ride was waiting at the turn-around. She had been driven to and from school by chauffeur since the seventh grade. Six years ago, there had been a shooting on one of the public school buses. This rattled Rhonda's parents, so they arranged private transportation for their daughter ever since. Which Rhonda didn't mind. She liked not having to scramble for a seat with all the geeks from her class. Plus, the vehicle had comfy leather seats and a refrigerator.

When Rhonda had reached the car, she opened the door and flung herself onto the backseat.

"Oh Carlton, you won't believe the day I just had!" Rhonda felt her tension lighten somewhat. She liked Carlton. He always had a way of making things feel better.

"Why yes Ms. Lloyd, I agree. A most terrible day indeed." The steam that a certain someone had mentioned a few minutes ago began billowing once again out of Rhonda's ears.

"Curly?! What are you doing here?!" Curly twisted around from the driver's seat and beamed brightly at Rhonda.

"Cause you forgot this!" Curly pulled out Rhonda's chemistry book and handed it to her. "And you forgot something else." Rhonda tore the book from Curly's grasp.

"WHAT?!" Curly tipped the edges of his mouth upward.

"You forgot to smile!" Rhonda reached forward and grabbed Curly in a headlock.

"I'm going to kill you!"

"Come on Rhonda, this is funny," Curly gasped. He tried to free himself, but Rhonda was too strong. "Even though you had a head start, I somehow impossibly managed to beat you to the car without you even noticing. And look, I'm even wearing a nice chauffeur uniform. How did I get such a thing on short notice? You see, it's just like a cartoon."

"Like a cartoon huh?" Rhonda rasped venomously. "Will it be like a cartoon when your head pops off?" Curly noticed the savage grin on her face and pointed at it.

"That doesn't count. You have to be sincere."

"Oh I'll show you sincere!" Curly attempted to raise his arm in protest, but soon lost the strength. His struggling gradually diminished, until he lay motionlessly on the front seat. Rhonda dusted off her fingers with a satisfactory 'hmph'. _Serves him right. _She was about to call the real Carlton to see where he was, when she suddenly froze. She put two fingers to Curly's neck.

"Uh-oh."

* * *

"I killed him! Oh my God I killed him!" Rhonda had her hands to her face and was weeping as she sat on a chair in the hospital room, where Curly was fighting for his life. "Why did I have to choke him? Why couldn't I have just kicked him in the balls like I normally do?" She sobbed uncontrollably, every so often spreading her fingers so she could see Curly, whose mouth was slightly hung open, which only made her sob even harder.

After about twenty minutes of this, the attending physician walked into the room. Rhonda flung herself at him and sobbed against his chest.

"Oh please! There must be something you can do for him. Can you donate a lung? 'Cause I swear, I'll do it."

"Easy there little lady," the doctor said. He lightly patted Rhonda on the shoulder. "I think Curly will come to any minute now." Rhonda stopping sobbing for a moment. She removed her head from the doctor's shoulder and frowned.

"Wait a minute." She took a second look at the doctor's white coat. 'Dr. Thad'?

"Curly!" Rhonda ripped off Curly's coat, revealing the chauffeur outfit he was wearing earlier. "Why you little – wait. If you're here, then who's..." Rhonda peered over at the bed, where a disguised Sid was now sitting in an upright position. Sid rubbed anxiously at his IV.

"Hey Curly, are you sure you put this thing in right?" Curly shrugged.

"How hard can it be? You have millions of veins, right?" Curly flashed a grin at Rhonda while he put his coat back on. "So, feel like smiling yet?" Rhonda was about to strangle Curly for the second and hopefully last time, when a hassled-looking doctor entered the room, followed by a nurse.

"Dr. Thad, thank goodness you're here," the doctor said. He went over to Sid and studied him carefully. "How's Curly?" he asked Curly. Over at the bed, Sid began to wave his hands.

"I'm not Curly!" Sid exclaimed. The doctor's face paled.

"Oh my God he's delusional." He turned to the nurse. "Wheel him over to the OR. He needs dual frontal lobotomies pronto!" The doctor dashed out of the room while the nurse took a hold of Sid's bed and began to wheel him out. Sid looked helplessly at his friends and then grappled at the nurse.

"No, you don't understand! I'm not Curly, he is!" Sid pointed over at Curly, but the nurse paid no attention. "He put me here. That girl, see that girl next to him? She had a bad day and he's trying to make her smile. It was all part of the plan. Please, listen to me!" Curly and Rhonda watched as the nurse rolled Sid out of sight. "Noooooooo! Don't take out my braaaaaiiiiiiiiiinnnnn!"

Curly and Rhonda stood in appalled silence.

"Should we say something?" Rhonda said.

"Don't look at me, I'm not a doctor." Another silence overtook the pair.

"Hey Curly, I just remembered something."

"What?" Within two seconds, Curly wound up in another headlock.

"Say goodnight _Gamelthorpe_!"

* * *

The scene was a dreary one at Hillwood cemetary. Hands were held as people watched the casket being lowered six feet below, into its tenant's final resting place. Crying broke out intermittently amongst the crowd. A pudgy middle-aged man with circle-frame glasses wrung his hands together, trying to accept the idea of burying one of his last-remaining relatives. From her position, Rhonda couldn't help but feel sad herself.

One of the strange things about Hillwood was that they built the cemetery right behind the correctional facility. What was even stranger was that from the barred window on the back wall of her holding cell, Rhonda could see a burial happening less than one-hundred meters away. She didn't know who the deceased or their family was, but since she didn't have anything else to do, she though she might as well watch.

Unfortunately Rhonda was unable to carry out Curly's demise. Hillwood Medical has a few competent doctors (at least more competent than the one that ordered Sid's lobotomies), and one of them caught Rhonda assaulting Curly. An hour later, Rhonda found herself in her present situation. She sighed, wondering when word would reach her father so he could bail her out.

"You know, out of all the inmates I've seen today, you're by far the most attractive."

Rhonda glanced at the owner of the voice. A policeman. Her eyes fell to the badge. 'Officer Thaddy.' Rhonda blinked up at Curly's face, her own devoid of emotion or thought.

"What a surprise," she uttered monotonously. "I suppose it was only a matter of time before you showed up once again, completely out of nowhere, and asked me if I felt like smiling." Curly smirked at Rhonda. He leaned up close to the bars of her cell and jangled a set of keys.

"I'll make this easy for you my sweet. Give Curly a big ole grin and I'll set you free." Rhonda crossed her arms. She was utterly impassive.

"No." Curly shrugged, jangled his keys a couple of times, and placed them in his right pocket.

"If you insist. But you could be stuck in here a long time. I have several eyewitnesses to verify that you attacked me. Daddy will have a hard time getting you out of this one."

Before Rhonda could respond, another policeman ran into the room and skidded to a halt right in front of Curly. He bore a slight similarity to a particular doctor from Hillwood Medical.

"Officer Thaddy, I'm so glad you're here. There's a situation out on Vine Street and we need your help right away."

Rhonda gaped stupidly at the policeman. There was no way this guy could be serious. Curly meanwhile sighed in frustration.

"Alright, alright, I'm on it." He glanced back at Rhonda with his eyebrows raised. "Remember that doctor we saw?"

Rhonda nodded.

"He's his brother." Shaking his head, Curly tossed the keys over to Rhonda. He tore after the policeman. "This ain't over yet baby doll! I'll make you smile, I swear I will!"

Rhonda's stony facade crumbled. She let out a deafening screech, followed by a stream of obscenities that to this day, has never been quite equaled in Hillwood.

* * *

Later that night, there was a big football game at Hillwood High. It was between Hillwood and their cross-town rival. Nadine was currently sitting in the bleachers, slurping on a Mr. Fudgy and contemplating. It was about eight o' clock and they were taking a break for half-time. She felt a slight urge to use the restroom, but decided against it. The port-a-johns were always flooded with people right after the half, and she was sure she could hold it for a later, less crowded time.

Nadine 's musings were interrupted by the sound of someone sitting down next to her. Rhonda.

"Sorry I'm late," Rhonda said.

"Don't worry, the game's been pretty boring so far." Nadine's hand subconsciously went to the back of her head, where there was a hard knot. "You're not going to push me again, are you?" Rhonda rested her cheeks against her palms.

"No, of course not... ...sorry about that."

"It's okay Rhonda." Nadine smiled. She instantly forgave her friend. "Anyway, you've had a pretty crazy day today. I can't believe you went through the ICU unit of Hillwood Medical, got sent to the correctional facility, escaped, and made it back to school, all in five hours."

Rhonda exhaled dismally. "Tell me about it." Nadine's attention returned to the field, and her features brightened when she saw that the marching band had come out to perform.

"Hey look Rhonda, it's the marching band." Nadine's eyes became half-lidded as she watched Peapod Kid marching in the back, banging on his percussion set. She leaned forward on her seat.

"...mmmmmm, Peopod Kid..." Nadine's fantasizing was cut short when she heard noises coming from below the bleachers. She peered down in between the seats and wrinkled her nose at what she saw.

"Again?! Jeez, can't you two get a room?"

Below the bleachers, Helga and Arnold stopped mid-smooch and looked upwards. They both gave sheepish grins when they saw Nadine, followed by Rhonda, glaring down at them.

"Sorry," Arnold said.

"We'll relocate," Helga added. Taking a hold of Arnold's wrist, she dragged him away towards the school. Arnold's other arm hung limp as he let Helga support his entire weight, the heels of his shoes scraping against the pavement.

"Man, those two are intense," Nadine said.

"It's disgusting Nadine," replied Rhonda. The two girls resumed watching the marching band, whom it appeared was starting to perform. The band was all decked out in Hillwood High's signature red and gold colors. Within a minute, they had spread out over the entire field. As their positions evolved, Nadine frowned.

"That's strange, I don't remember this formation."

"It looks like their forming letters." Indeed, the marching band continued marching, and they were in fact positioning themselves into letters. Peapod Kid drummed mechanically as he filed behind Eugene. Rhonda's eyes grew wider and wider as she realized what word they had formed.

'Smile'

A synthesizer came on next, followed by the opening words of what had been a sizable hit several years ago.

_Save some face, you know you've only got one,_

_Change your ways, while you're young._

Every visible square inch of flesh on Rhonda went pale white.

_Boy, one day you'll be a man,_

_Oh girl, he'll help you understand._

"Ooh, I love this song" said Nadine. Shorty after this, one band member leapt onto a conveniently placed platform and shot a finger directly at Rhonda.

"Smile, like ya mean it!" Curly spread his arms really wide and removed his red hat, giving Rhonda his most encouraging grin yet.

"Hey Rhonda, it seems like he's singing to _you_." But Rhonda didn't respond. Quietly, she rose to her feet.

"Smile, like ya mean it!" Curly repeated, pointing a second time.

"That's so sweet," Nadine squeaked. Her eyes became wet. "This is just like one of those touching but unoriginal high school movies that I love." When Nadine looked at Rhonda, it appeared the brunette did not share any of her sentiments. In fact, Nadine had a hard time determining what Rhonda was even feeling. The girl's face was constantly twitching and creasing, as if a hundred thousand emotions were rushing through her all at once.

"Rhonda, are you okay?"

"I thought I've gone through every possible mental state today," Rhonda said in a flat tone. "I've experienced everything from deep depression, to violent rage. But, it appears that I missed one."

"What's that?" Rhonda stuck one finger up in the air, and nearly smiled before she remembered and stopped herself.

"Primal fear," she answered brightly. A split second later, Rhonda bolted from the bleachers and shot off towards the parking lot.

"After her!" Curly hollered from the field. He charged after Rhonda, followed in close pursuit by the marching band. The faster they ran, the faster the synthesizer played. Slightly ahead of them, Rhonda literally ran for her life, every scrape of common sense and rationality removed from her being.

"Smile!" Curly screamed. "_Smile_ like you mean it!"

* * *

Rhonda yanked open the front door to her house and galloped up the staircase, whizzing by her mother and father, who were sipping wine in the living room.

"How was your day Rhonda?" Mrs. Wellington-Lloyd asked. The sounds of Rhonda zooming up the stairs and slamming her door shut were heard.

"Sounds like our little princess is back to normal," Mr. Wellington-Lloyd said.

Rhonda burst into her room and turned on all the lights. She was sure she had lost Curly for now, but being that he knew where she lived, it would only be a matter of time before he showed up again. Rhonda sped over to her closet and opened it, hoping to find a baseball bat.

"So, feel like smiling yet?" Curly asked. Rhonda shut the door and raced for the bathroom.

"Hey, I found toothpaste with extra teeth-whitening. That'll help, right?" Rhonda ran out of the bathroom and bounded down the steps back to the main floor. She found the door to the basement, and hurried down those steps as well. Pinball. They had a pinball machine down there. That would calm her nerves.

"Smile?" Rhonda flew out of the basement and up a different set of stairs. These led to the backyard pool. A nighttime swim would be nice. Swimming would be _perfect_.

"See, the moon's beaming. You should be too."

The pool-house. That was the last safe haven. She could lock herself inside. Rhonda threw herself at the ornate brick structure and flung the door open. But the pool-house was already occupied. Rhonda nearly screamed, but when she realized who it was, she instead heaved a huge sigh of relief.

"Whew!" It was only Helga and Arnold. She wiped the sweat off her brow before doing a double-take.

"I know, I know, get lost." Helga rolled her eyes and grabbed Arnold's wrist once again. "Sheesh, all night I tell ya." She turned back to glance at Rhonda. "Oh yeah, Curly invites you to smile."

Rhonda immediately hurtled outside and towards the street. Helga and Arnold were quite impressed.

"Wow," Arnold said.

"I know. She should join the track team."

Rhonda ran faster than she ever did that whole night, or her whole life. Something inside her had snapped. She couldn't hide from Curly, that was clear, but there wasn't much he could do if he was unable catch her. She knew it would have been easier to just throw in the towel, to let him see her smile. One little smile couldn't hurt. But that would be losing to Curly, and Rhonda had had enough losing for one day So she'd just keep running. Forever.

Rhonda promptly stopped running when she collided with a large object. She fell down to the ground, the wind knocked out of her. When she saw what, or rather who it was, she tried to scream, but found that she couldn't. She went on all fours and made to escape, but froze when she saw that nearly the entire student body was surrounding her. They had followed Curly from the football field to see what all the commotion was about.

Rhonda noticed a shadow growing out of the corner of her eye. She shielded herself as Curly came closer and closer.

"Why?" Rhonda blinked. She lowered her arms to see Curly, who was staring at her with an uncharacteristically serious expression. His face remained unchanging. The entire crowd was silent.

"Why?" he repeated. "Why won't you smile?" Rhonda climbed to her feet. She blinked again as she studied Curly. He appeared to be telling the truth. Slowly but surely, the familiar feeling of rage enveloped her.

"Why won't I smile? Why won't I smile? You tell me why I won't smile Curly! I'm failing trig, I won't be able to go anywhere during spring break, Eugene _ruined_ my outfit," Rhonda gestured at her soiled clothes, which she hadn't had a chance to change since lunchtime, "My boyfriend of over a year broke up with me, and not once during the whole day did anyone ask how I felt. No one asked if there's anything they could do for me, or if there was anything that _I_ wanted. And to top it all off, you've chased me halfway across the city just to make me smile, 'cause you automatically assumed that would make everything all better!"

Curly's eyebrows raised with sympathy. "I'm sorry Rhonda. I heard you had a bad day, so I thought if I made you smile, maybe I could make you feel a little better. But I guess I was wrong. I'm sorry. I won't bother you anymore." Curly softly spun on his foot and started walking away.

"Smiling won't make me feel any better!" Rhonda shouted. Curly turned around and looked at her.

"That's not true Rhonda. Studies show that when you smile, even when you don't feel happy, you'll began to feel happier anyway."

"He's right you know." The voice belonged to Dr. Bliss, who was among the many students. Rhonda growled and flung a rock at her. Dr. Bliss fell to the ground with a thud.

"Seriously," Curly said. "You need therapy."

With her face still in the dirt, Dr. Bliss rose a shaky arm. "I can help." She got pelted by another rock and was quiet for good.

"I don't need therapy and I don't care what any stupid studies say Curly! No one cared about what I wanted, so no one gets to tell me what to do." A hurt expression appeared on Curly's face. "I mean, what do you all expect? I had the worst day of my life. But apparently, that mean's nothing to you people. I'm human too you know. I have feelings, and they need to be observed. Heck, I'm a _woman!_ R-E-S-P-E-C-T mean anything to you?"

Rhonda failed to notice that Curly was not paying attention to anything she was saying.

"The Wellington-Lloyds have been a fixture of Hillwood since its inception. That means that we're practically the founders. So it only makes sense that as a member of one of the founding families, I should be treated with honor and respect. But you all have crossed the line this time. I'm not letting this one go so easily, and there's nary a thing, no small gesture, or action, that any one of you can do to change how I feel about–"

Rhonda's speech was abruptly cut short. Not because she had run out of words, since she certainly had several more of those she wanted to share, but because her lips were currently being occupied by Curly. So surprised was Rhonda that she remained completely still during the entire kiss, and even for a little while afterwards, when it had broken off. Rhonda gazed at Curly with absolute incredulity. As she regained her senses, she expected to see him flash that wide grin of his and ask her whether she wanted to smile. Instead, he only regarded her with a small frown.

"I...you..." Rhonda was now truly at a loss for words. Her visage began twitching like before, a hundred thousand different emotions running through her. When clarity finally struck her, she did the only thing that made sense. She cried.

"That's it. After everything that's happened today, that's what I wanted." She wiped her nose on her sleeve and looked misty-eyed at the crowd. They all smiled at her compassionately. Rhonda returned the gesture and opened her mouth to elaborate. Before she could speak however, Curly's lips met hers once again. This time, she reciprocated. The crowd 'awwed' and started clapping.

"Alright Curly!" Stinky cheered. He nudged Sid, but Sid didn't respond. Sid had been nearly catatonic since he had gotten out of the hospital. Stinky shrugged and kept clapping. He paused only to brush away a tear. "Well I'll be. Old Curly's gone and fixed himself up with Miss Rhonda. I'm so impressed, I could clap all night long.

_Thirty minutes later_

"Uh...do you think they're gonna stop sometime soon?" Park said.

"I dunno," Stinky replied. "I know I said I could clap all night long, but my hands are gettin' pretty tired now."

"Mine too," Harold complained.

As if on cue, Rhonda and Curly broke off their lengthy kiss. The two were huffing and puffing, but they were also grinning ear-to-ear, just like Curly had foretold several hours ago. The crowd sighed in relief and abandoned clapping.

"That," Rhonda said while she cradled Curly's face, "was some good kissing." Curly gave her a fatigued grin. "I concur." His chest was still rising and falling rapidly. "Hey, do you think we can take a break?" He rubbed his jawline. "I think I have a cramp." Rhonda's face suddenly and dangerously steeled.

"No!" she exclaimed. "I still had a bad day, and you'll do what I tell you to do!"

"But Rhonda–" Rhonda pulled Curly into a third, far more aggressive lip-lock. Those in the sea of onlookers grew slightly nervous as they saw the kiss increase in intensity and...well, brutality.

"Whoa daddy," Gerald said.

"Uh, is she allowed to–"

"Ahhhh! I can't look! Ahhhhh!" Harold was the first to bolt in the opposite direction. Distant cries of 'mommy' were heard as he fled out of sight. This spurred Park to action.

"Everybody run!" The students of Hillwood High ran as fast as they could, unable to remove themselves fast enough from the exponentially disturbing scene. Kids tripped, were trampled and got back up as they fought to vacate the premises. Within one minute flat, everyone that was watching Rhonda and Curly had left. Not counting Rhonda and Curly, there were two other people remaining in the crowd. They were also a couple, and had just realized that something was different.

"Hey, where did everyone go?" In one of the rare instances where they weren't making out, Helga and Arnold discovered that everyone that had been near them was gone.

**THE END**

**Disclaimer - I do not own Hey Arnold!, it characters, nor any other shows, characters, music, and/or movies that may be referenced. **


End file.
